Women's Pay Gap Analysis
Introduction
The wage gap is a controversial topic. Some may believe there isn’t anything wrong and others may think something needs to be fixed. The biggest areas of concern are the differences between men and women’s pay and the differences between each races pay. Also another topic of discussion is the reasons why there is even a gap in the first place. So a few things to think about throughout this paper are: What is the real gap between men and women’s pay? What is the real gap between each race in pay? What are the major underlying reasons for these gaps in both gender and race?
Gap in Pay by Gender
According to Rebecca Leber of newrepublic.com, “Women, on average, earn 22 percent less than men or seventy-eight cents for every white …show more content…
man’s dollar” (Leber 2015.) A lot of critics like to say that the reason why women earn less than men is because they take on fewer hours and have less experience than the men that they work with because they have to leave early to take care of their children. They also said that the women take on jobs that have more flexible hours but in return have the jobs that pay less. In early April, Glenn Kessler from the Washington Post made a comment saying that “Until women stop getting married and having children, as well as abandoning careers in childhood education for naval architecture, a large gap in wages will almost certainly persist” (Leber 2015.) The author explains that Kessler didn’t think about the lack of US policies that grant paid parental leave and childcare so some parents, mainly women, have no choice and are forced to quit their jobs to care for their children. In other words, the author says that critics seem to be okay with penalizing women for wanting to take care of their families through their wages, therefore making women want to wait for children until they can afford it. In another side of this, women make their choice of working less hours and working the lower- paid jobs, due to the lack of paid sick days and maternity leave. So the author states if we develop more policies to help these issues then women, as well as single parent father figures, would be able to stay in that higher paying section of the work force. There is a certain degree of discrimination within this section as well because women in the same jobs, with the same educational level as men still earn less money. An example of this is pointed out by Emily Baxter, a research associate at the Center for American Progress (CAP). She states that “male surgeons earn 37.76 percent more per week than women in the same job.” However, the difference in pay percentage doesn’t apply to just the high-paying jobs. “Women are 94.6 percent of all secretaries and administrative assistants, but still earn 84.5 percent of what men in the same level earn per week. This is a weekly difference of $126” (Leber 2015.) According to aauw.org, in 2014, “women working full-time jobs in the United States were paid 79 percent of what men were paid” (Catherine Hill 2015.) This is a pay gap of 21 percent. The wage gap has decreased since the 1970s due to women’s progress in education and actually having full time jobs outside of the home, as well as men’s slower increase in rising wages. However, the gap has stalled and doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon. Many critics have said that education and experience will decrease the pay gap. However, men and women both go to college to obtain degrees so that they can get those higher positions to earn more money. The wage gap, in some cases, is larger in those high-paying jobs and larger in the higher education levels as well. According to Hegewisch, Ellis, and Hartmann of iwpr.org, in the past ten years (2005 to 2014), the gap narrowed by 1.5 percent. This can be compared to 4.9 percent in 1995 to 2004 and 8.1 percent in 1985 to 1994. So not only has the percentage decreased in the last ten years but it has decreased drastically in the last thirty years overall. The authors state that yes the gap has slowed considerably and if this pace were to continue it would take until around year 2058 for women and men to earn the same income (Iwpr.org 2015.)
Gap in Pay by Race/Gender
According to Millia Fisher of americanprogress.org, “women of color are more likely than white women to be put in the lowest- earning occupations in the service sector and in sales and office jobs” (Fisher 2015.) This is especially prevalent for Hispanic women.
For working women in 2014, 62 percent of Hispanics were put into two job categories, service and sales/office occupations. This percentage is compared to the 57 percent of blacks, 51 percent of whites, and 44 percent of Asians in the same jobs. In 2014, women employed in the higher-paying management and professional jobs by percentage were drastically different by race. Black women made up only 35 percent, 26 percent were Hispanic women, 48 percent were Asian women and white women made up 43 percent. The author states that some say that women of color make the choice to work the lower-paying jobs but none take into consideration that the statistics show women of color are less likely compared to white women to graduate high school or obtain a bachelor’s degree. This places them at a disadvantage from the moment they enter the workforce, which in return creates several barriers to achieve the higher income jobs (Fisher 2015.) Compared to white men earnings, Hispanic women earn 54 percent, black women earn 64 percent, and Native American earn 65 percent but these numbers would change and close when compared to men of the same race. According to the AAUW, many women of color tend to be paid less than their white peers …show more content…
even when they have the same educational background” (Leber 2015.) So when people say that women should just get more educated to earn the same as men they are technically wrong according to this statement. Education isn’t an effective way to resolve the pay gap. At every level of educational achievement, white men more than white women and black and Hispanic women earn less than white and Asian women do. The only way to fix the pay gap with education would be to only allow minority women to achieve the higher degrees so that they earn more money compared to white women but that would never work out (Catherine Hill 2015.) According to iwpr.org, “Hispanic workers have lower median weekly earnings than white, black, and Asian workers” (Iwpr.org 2015.) Hispanic women make about $548 per week from a full-time job, this is only 61.2 percent of a white man’s earnings, but 89.0 percent of a Hispanic man’s earnings because Hispanic men also make very minimal wages compared to the other races of men. Black women were at $611 per week, which is 61.2 percent of white men’s earnings and 89.9 percent of black men who also earn less. Asian workers of both genders have higher weekly earnings than white, black, or Hispanic workers due to higher educational achievement. Asian women’s percentage compared to white men’s earnings is at 92.6 percent but only 77.3 compared to Asian men’s earnings. Asian women make more percentage wise compared to white men than white women do. White women are only at 81.8 percent earnings compared to white men. So overall Asian women have the smallest pay gap at 90 percent when compared to white men’s earnings. The gap is largest for Hispanic women at 54 percent (Catherine Hill 2015.)
Unexplained Causes Researchers of these topics have found other factors to explain the gender/race wage gap. The first is conscious or even unconscious gender discrimination for women in the work force. Women of color are subject to both gender and racial discrimination. Some have suggested more protection in the work place for women such as family and medical leave and paid sick days. Also minimizing the time women are required to spend outside of their job for loved ones. A researcher suggested developing equal pay laws that would help prevent racial and gender discrimination so women can take legal action to address all the discrimination. However, the biggest problem addressed with developing these different strategies to help minimize the pay gap is that the United States would have to look deep into the structures that drive the pay gap and the different cultural stereotypes against women and people of other races to truly find a solution (Fisher 2015.)
Common Myths There are several myths that people talk about when confronted with the topic of the wage gap.
According to Coukos of blog.dol.gov, a few of these myths are:
1. Some believe the wage gap is a lot smaller than what it really is. They say the 77 cents on the dollar that women earn less than men is an over exaggeration.
2. There are legitimate differences between men and women and discrimination isn’t one of them. Therefore saying the wage gap doesn’t exist at all.
3. “It’s not my problem” They say that once the jobs get to the higher levels with higher skills and education the gap just disappears. When in reality, the research shows the gap is higher in the upper educational levels of the work force.
4. Many people say that women put themselves in the position and choose to work fewer hours. The statistics show that the women being compared to men is based on women with full-time jobs. The women with part-time jobs have nothing to do with the gap.
5. The wage gap will go away on its own. The gap has slowed/ decreased overtime but there have been laws and amendments set in place for over fifty years and the wage gap still exists (Coukos 2012.)
Methodology Most sources were online journals, websites, and analysis of graphs put into statistical form throughout the paper.
Conclusion
In conclusion, regardless of a women’s level in education, or experience they still make less than men. However, this is not true in some cases. According to these statistics I have found, white women make more than Hispanic and black women, but not more than Asian women. There are many myths about the pay gap but a lot of evidence put out by researchers has corrected them. There is a high amount of discrimination within our work force. This discrimination is almost unavoidable. There are laws and amendments out there to support equal pay and rights for each gender and race but yet the gap still exists. This just shows that there is a ton of other underlying causes which have yet to be discovered. Over time sociologists will figure these causes out and strive to overcome them but overall I think the discrimination will always be there in some way. The one question I still have, which will probably never get answered, is why is there a barrier between genders and races, when each group regardless of these stigmas, is striving for the same goal, objective, and overall outcome?
The wage gap is a controversial topic. Some may believe there isn’t anything wrong and others may think something needs to be fixed. The biggest areas of concern are the differences between men and women’s pay and the differences between each races pay. Also another topic of discussion is the reasons why there is even a gap in the first place. So a few things to think about throughout this paper are: What is the real gap between men and women’s pay? What is the real gap between each race in pay? What are the major underlying reasons for these gaps in both gender and race?
Gap in Pay by Gender
According to Rebecca Leber of newrepublic.com, “Women, on average, earn 22 percent less than men or seventy-eight cents for every white …show more content…
man’s dollar” (Leber 2015.) A lot of critics like to say that the reason why women earn less than men is because they take on fewer hours and have less experience than the men that they work with because they have to leave early to take care of their children. They also said that the women take on jobs that have more flexible hours but in return have the jobs that pay less. In early April, Glenn Kessler from the Washington Post made a comment saying that “Until women stop getting married and having children, as well as abandoning careers in childhood education for naval architecture, a large gap in wages will almost certainly persist” (Leber 2015.) The author explains that Kessler didn’t think about the lack of US policies that grant paid parental leave and childcare so some parents, mainly women, have no choice and are forced to quit their jobs to care for their children. In other words, the author says that critics seem to be okay with penalizing women for wanting to take care of their families through their wages, therefore making women want to wait for children until they can afford it. In another side of this, women make their choice of working less hours and working the lower- paid jobs, due to the lack of paid sick days and maternity leave. So the author states if we develop more policies to help these issues then women, as well as single parent father figures, would be able to stay in that higher paying section of the work force. There is a certain degree of discrimination within this section as well because women in the same jobs, with the same educational level as men still earn less money. An example of this is pointed out by Emily Baxter, a research associate at the Center for American Progress (CAP). She states that “male surgeons earn 37.76 percent more per week than women in the same job.” However, the difference in pay percentage doesn’t apply to just the high-paying jobs. “Women are 94.6 percent of all secretaries and administrative assistants, but still earn 84.5 percent of what men in the same level earn per week. This is a weekly difference of $126” (Leber 2015.) According to aauw.org, in 2014, “women working full-time jobs in the United States were paid 79 percent of what men were paid” (Catherine Hill 2015.) This is a pay gap of 21 percent. The wage gap has decreased since the 1970s due to women’s progress in education and actually having full time jobs outside of the home, as well as men’s slower increase in rising wages. However, the gap has stalled and doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon. Many critics have said that education and experience will decrease the pay gap. However, men and women both go to college to obtain degrees so that they can get those higher positions to earn more money. The wage gap, in some cases, is larger in those high-paying jobs and larger in the higher education levels as well. According to Hegewisch, Ellis, and Hartmann of iwpr.org, in the past ten years (2005 to 2014), the gap narrowed by 1.5 percent. This can be compared to 4.9 percent in 1995 to 2004 and 8.1 percent in 1985 to 1994. So not only has the percentage decreased in the last ten years but it has decreased drastically in the last thirty years overall. The authors state that yes the gap has slowed considerably and if this pace were to continue it would take until around year 2058 for women and men to earn the same income (Iwpr.org 2015.)
Gap in Pay by Race/Gender
According to Millia Fisher of americanprogress.org, “women of color are more likely than white women to be put in the lowest- earning occupations in the service sector and in sales and office jobs” (Fisher 2015.) This is especially prevalent for Hispanic women.
For working women in 2014, 62 percent of Hispanics were put into two job categories, service and sales/office occupations. This percentage is compared to the 57 percent of blacks, 51 percent of whites, and 44 percent of Asians in the same jobs. In 2014, women employed in the higher-paying management and professional jobs by percentage were drastically different by race. Black women made up only 35 percent, 26 percent were Hispanic women, 48 percent were Asian women and white women made up 43 percent. The author states that some say that women of color make the choice to work the lower-paying jobs but none take into consideration that the statistics show women of color are less likely compared to white women to graduate high school or obtain a bachelor’s degree. This places them at a disadvantage from the moment they enter the workforce, which in return creates several barriers to achieve the higher income jobs (Fisher 2015.) Compared to white men earnings, Hispanic women earn 54 percent, black women earn 64 percent, and Native American earn 65 percent but these numbers would change and close when compared to men of the same race. According to the AAUW, many women of color tend to be paid less than their white peers …show more content…
even when they have the same educational background” (Leber 2015.) So when people say that women should just get more educated to earn the same as men they are technically wrong according to this statement. Education isn’t an effective way to resolve the pay gap. At every level of educational achievement, white men more than white women and black and Hispanic women earn less than white and Asian women do. The only way to fix the pay gap with education would be to only allow minority women to achieve the higher degrees so that they earn more money compared to white women but that would never work out (Catherine Hill 2015.) According to iwpr.org, “Hispanic workers have lower median weekly earnings than white, black, and Asian workers” (Iwpr.org 2015.) Hispanic women make about $548 per week from a full-time job, this is only 61.2 percent of a white man’s earnings, but 89.0 percent of a Hispanic man’s earnings because Hispanic men also make very minimal wages compared to the other races of men. Black women were at $611 per week, which is 61.2 percent of white men’s earnings and 89.9 percent of black men who also earn less. Asian workers of both genders have higher weekly earnings than white, black, or Hispanic workers due to higher educational achievement. Asian women’s percentage compared to white men’s earnings is at 92.6 percent but only 77.3 compared to Asian men’s earnings. Asian women make more percentage wise compared to white men than white women do. White women are only at 81.8 percent earnings compared to white men. So overall Asian women have the smallest pay gap at 90 percent when compared to white men’s earnings. The gap is largest for Hispanic women at 54 percent (Catherine Hill 2015.)
Unexplained Causes Researchers of these topics have found other factors to explain the gender/race wage gap. The first is conscious or even unconscious gender discrimination for women in the work force. Women of color are subject to both gender and racial discrimination. Some have suggested more protection in the work place for women such as family and medical leave and paid sick days. Also minimizing the time women are required to spend outside of their job for loved ones. A researcher suggested developing equal pay laws that would help prevent racial and gender discrimination so women can take legal action to address all the discrimination. However, the biggest problem addressed with developing these different strategies to help minimize the pay gap is that the United States would have to look deep into the structures that drive the pay gap and the different cultural stereotypes against women and people of other races to truly find a solution (Fisher 2015.)
Common Myths There are several myths that people talk about when confronted with the topic of the wage gap.
According to Coukos of blog.dol.gov, a few of these myths are:
1. Some believe the wage gap is a lot smaller than what it really is. They say the 77 cents on the dollar that women earn less than men is an over exaggeration.
2. There are legitimate differences between men and women and discrimination isn’t one of them. Therefore saying the wage gap doesn’t exist at all.
3. “It’s not my problem” They say that once the jobs get to the higher levels with higher skills and education the gap just disappears. When in reality, the research shows the gap is higher in the upper educational levels of the work force.
4. Many people say that women put themselves in the position and choose to work fewer hours. The statistics show that the women being compared to men is based on women with full-time jobs. The women with part-time jobs have nothing to do with the gap.
5. The wage gap will go away on its own. The gap has slowed/ decreased overtime but there have been laws and amendments set in place for over fifty years and the wage gap still exists (Coukos 2012.)
Methodology Most sources were online journals, websites, and analysis of graphs put into statistical form throughout the paper.
Conclusion
In conclusion, regardless of a women’s level in education, or experience they still make less than men. However, this is not true in some cases. According to these statistics I have found, white women make more than Hispanic and black women, but not more than Asian women. There are many myths about the pay gap but a lot of evidence put out by researchers has corrected them. There is a high amount of discrimination within our work force. This discrimination is almost unavoidable. There are laws and amendments out there to support equal pay and rights for each gender and race but yet the gap still exists. This just shows that there is a ton of other underlying causes which have yet to be discovered. Over time sociologists will figure these causes out and strive to overcome them but overall I think the discrimination will always be there in some way. The one question I still have, which will probably never get answered, is why is there a barrier between genders and races, when each group regardless of these stigmas, is striving for the same goal, objective, and overall outcome?